Autoship - Definition & Meaning

Published in Marketing and Strategy Terms by MBA Skool Team

What is Autoship?

Autoship is the method by which shipment of products to a consumer is done on a regular basis at certain intervals, which uses any form of automatic payment for transaction purposes. These products would be shipped periodically, on the basis of a standing order that has been made by the customer previously.


An autoship program would allow its customers to schedule when their products are shipped, on a recurring basis. This also allows the businesses to rake in repeat revenue without having to spend any more on any additional marketing expense, and without customer service effort. Autoship can help network marketing representatives with their commission levels.


There are many benefits to using autoship programs. Autoship programs allow the owner of the business to set a proper budget, and also help in projection of monthly sales figures. While using the Autoship feature, the firm would have an idea of what is in the queue, and this makes planning inventory and also fulfillment operations more effective, thus saving money. Also, a lot of marketing expense can be avoided, since remarketing of the product to the customers in order to get them back is no longer needed, since the products are shipped regularly to these customers. Customers who use the autoship option are committed to the program and use the products on a regular basis, and so they become advocates of the brand over time.


From the consumer’s point of view also, autoship programs may be a preferred option. Products will be delivered without any effort from the part of the consumer, and billing is automatically done through consumer’s credit cards, saving the customer from these hassles. Also, most firms would offer autoship customers special prices, since these customers are more profitable than the others. Thus, discounted prices are another attractive feature. Many of these Auto-ship programs would allow customers to edit order details such as the frequency and quantities of the product, anytime through their account portals, making it convenient for the customer. In addition, auto-ship schedule programs allow customers to “set it and forget it,” and so they would not run out of the products that they require on a regular basis.

 

For example: Customers can choose the subscription and schedule of the magazines of their choice, and the payment can be automatically done through the customer’s credit card.

 

Hence, this concludes the definition of Autoship along with its overview.

This article has been researched & authored by the Business Concepts Team. It has been reviewed & published by the MBA Skool Team. The content on MBA Skool has been created for educational & academic purpose only.

Browse the definition and meaning of more similar terms. The Management Dictionary covers over 1800 business concepts from 5 categories.

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